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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1994-06-24 Mayor Joseph A, Fernekes Council: Jack Drago John R. Penna ---'Roberta Cerri Teglia Robert Yee MINUTES City Council Municipal Services Building Community Room June 24, 1994 378 SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO JUNE 24, 1994 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to Section 54956 of the Government Code of the State of California, that the City Council of the City of South San Francisco will hold a Special Meeting on Friday, the 24th day of June 1994, at 8:30 a.m., in the Municipal Services Building Community Room, 33 Arroyo Drive, South San Francisco, California. Purpose of the meeting: Discussion of the Budget. City Clerk City of South San Francisco Dated: June 22, 1994 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN CALL TO ORDER: (Cassette No. 1) 8:48 a.m. Mayor Fernekes presiding. ROLL CALL: Council Present: Drago, Yee and Fernekes. Council Absent: Penna and Teglia. Discussion of the Budget. City Manager Wohlenberg stated he passed out a slight revision to the budget presentation to accom- modate some schedules of staff. He suggested having another meeting on the 29th, in the afternoon or morning, in the event the budget was not finished today. He stated that a League bulletin came in yesterday afternoon, where the Assembly wants to shift $100,000,000 in vehicle license tax from cities to counties. The Committee is going to act on it this afternoon and we were urged to contact our Legislators. 6/24/94 Page 1 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN Discussion of the Budget - Continued. Economic & Community Development Budget: 6/24/94 Page 2 379 He stated the budget does not anticipate a loss of revenue by the State. However, we have to plan on it and anticipate it, because we have no information on how it will affect us. Finance Director Margolis stated the negative effect would be $250,000, but it is not clear in the way they state it, because it is divided into several pots. Vice Mayor Yee stated, if the City is going to lose $250,000, maybe we should prepare a contingency plan to deal with the $250,000. City Manager Wohlenberg stated Daly City alerted us that the Board of Supervisors is looking to in- crease booking fees by 40 % and he felt the Council should tell the Board that is a substantial increase. He stated there were revised numbers in the Fire Department's reorganization to reflect savings over the multi-year program and a report on positions in the last seven years, which was requested by Coun- cilman Drago. He related the following on the Department of Eco- nomic & Community Development: assessment of the primary needs, the work force to do it and how best to organize the functions should be ready in a week or two for recommendation to Council; this would encompass Planning, Building, Code Enforce- ment, Economic & Community Development, Rede- velopment and CDBG; looking at the status quo and, in July, deal with the revised organizational staffing proposal; a second critical area is the entitlement and permit process area and he would forward the detailed report from the Interim Director, after he finished reading it; etc. Interim Director of Economic & Community Devel- opment Beyers related: the Department of Econom- ic & Community Development reflects a de- crease of 4% or $92,000 over this fiscal year; $21,000 is the reduction of the Associate Planner position; 11% reduction of $16,000 in savings of salaries, reflected by the vacancy of the Director and the Coordinator position; there is a status quo, until we come back with a recommendation dealing with the redevelopment and housing; the Planning Division reflects a reduction of one position, Asso- ciate Planner, which requires a revision in the work program and reassignment of workload; he will AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 380 Discussion of the Budget - Continued. 6/24/94 Page 3 come back later to the Council with a recommenda- tion on project priorities; planning will be doing an update of the housing element of the General Plan; 2 % reduction in the Building Division, due to the vacancy of a Senior Building Inspector - which will be filled; the number of inspections handled by the Division; etc. Mr. Carl Cahill stated he works as an Assistant Planner and, even though considered as a temporary employee, he had given dedicated service for more than one year. He stated the position was funded by the vacant senior planner position and the budget, as currently proposed, will put him out of a job. He stated the position works with the general public at the counter and telephone communicating the City's land use policies, zoning ordinances and on land use compliance. He stated there were 500 building permits for zoning and land use compliance and 150 discretionary permits from the Design Review Board, as well as vacant industrial properties that will be occupied by businesses when approved. He stated that, as a suggestion, eliminate the Associate Planner and create another Assistant Planner po- sition, which would save the City money and reduce the impacts on service; etc. Mr. Steve Padovan, Assistant Planner, spoke in favor of retaining the Associate Planner position. He stated the Economic & Community Development Department right now has 22 employees budgeted, four positions are currently vacant and two positions are held by interim people. It had been projected that we would go beyond our budget by $100,000- 200,000. However, if you look at the revenue brought in and then you subtract the $600,000 in planning fees, $600,000 from CDBG, which funds 3 or 4 positions, and $150,000-200,000 cost of East of 101, which should be reimbursed, the 22 positions only cost the City about $900,000. So, it's quite a bit to take another $60,000-70,000 out of the Planning Division. He stated that the cuts amounted to a 25% cut in the front line staff, after already losing a half time clerical - which made everyone answer phones, do mailings and tend the counter. He stated the Division had cut all funds for equipment, were using old chairs and computers and had no money for dues and meetings. He spoke of the volume of projects they have to review, work in helping accommodate business looking for places that have been vacant in which to relocate AGENDA ACTION TAKEN Discussion of the Budget - Continued. Public Works Budget: 6/24/94 Page 4 and have received positive responses. He felt busi- ness was picking up strongly, two to three applica- tions are going through the office daily and, without these positions, it will be difficult to maintain servic- es to the public - with the Kaiser and Sunset pro- jects, let alone the transportation issue with BART to review. He proposed that the Economic Development Coor- dinator be funded by the Redevelopment Agency, because most of the work involved housing and redevelopment and that is not in the City's budget - it is in the Agency's. He stated that he has also been doing work on the redevelopment housing and could be part of that budget. Mayor Fernekes questioned how we pick up the amount of work presently being done when a posi- tion is eliminated. City Manager Wohlenberg stated some of it will not get done or be done on a much longer time line, other than emergencies coming in the front door. Councilman Drago suggested going through the entire budget, starting with the City Manager, hold- ing all questions and quit at noon - so we can get through the original proposal. Councilman Yee felt, if there were any comments regarding the budget from employees, not the pub- lic, they should submit a written report, because he hated to see 360 people come before Council to defend their jobs. City Manager Wohlenberg presented his organiza- tional changes in Public Works, which would create two departments: the proposal was for a Director of Public Works/City Engineer, a secretary, engineer- ing plan checking, inspection of public and pri- vate construction of public facilities, maintenance of streets, signs, signals, street lights and vehicular equipment, management of Aircraft Noise Abate- ment Program and Solid Waste Program; establish Water Quality Department with a Director responsi- ble for plant operation, upgrading, expansion and coordination with co-users, collection system opera- tion, maintenance and capital investment and Stormwater Management Program - to include main- tenance of drainage structures and systems; look- ing at the Aircraft Noise Abatement as a separate AGENDA A~!!QN TAKEN Discussion of the Budget - Continued. 6/24/94 Page 5 382 program. Vice Mayor Yee stated, if you split the maintenance function, one portion of it in the WQCP and the other portion remaining in the street department, there would be a problem with that during storms or other emergencies. He stated that the problem was in balancing the budget and finding good solutions, yet everyone is talking about priorities and not about efficiency and doing a better job with less resources. Councilman Drago agreed that the Council should be dealing with more efficiency and cutting costs. Director of Public Works Parini explained the dif- ferent components of his budget: administration was himself and his secretary for $161,000; Solid Waste Management Program - administration is $136,000, drainage maintenance of the creeks is $247,000 and inspection is $70,000, with two Inspector vacancies, which are top priorities to fill; a report will be forth- coming on how they plan to monitor the waste for the Stormwater Management Program; Engineering; Aircraft Noise and general activity; etc. Discussion followed: Vice Mayor Yee stated he would like to see a chart showing, for example, the position of Public Works Director 2 for Stormwater and 1 for Engineering and show the total allocation of time to 100%; his concern was because the equipment operator shows 10% for Stormwater Management, without mention of how the other 90% is spent; Finance Director Margolis stated they would do that for the entire department; Councilman Drago questioned the large turnover in that depart- ment - is it salary, benefits, conditions or what; there were more promotional opportunities in other, larger sewer enterprises; the City just recently created a Senior Source Control Inspector - until now we did not even have that position, and people come to the Plant at the journeyman level; Inspector classification was the same for the Stormwater Man- agement Program and the WQCP; the Enterprise Fund is the same as the prior year; in July there would be a proposal to increase sewer service charg- es by 10% to support the enterprise function; Council needed to give concurrence on the two new Directors before the recruitment process could be- gin, because the Director of Public Works was leaving on 9/1/94; Councilman Drago wanted to broaden the scope of positions, so there would be AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 383 Discussion of the Budget - Continued. City Attorney Budget: 6/24/94 Page 6 less need for specialists at the Plant; he had also considered contracting out the whole operation to private enterprise; he supported having a Director, who is a real specialist, at the WQCP and begin recruitment immediately; Mayor Fernekes concurred with Councilman Drago's recommendation and to also recruit for the Director Public Works/City Engineer; Vice Mayor Yee agreed but felt they should hold off on the reorganization until the new Directors are hired and are comfortable with that plan. M/S Drago/Yee - To reclassify the Director of Public Works to a Director of Public Works/City Engineer and create a new position in charge of the WQCP as Director of WQCP. Carried by unanimous voice vote. Discussion followed: Vice Mayor Yee felt it would be more clear if the Aircraft Noise Program was separated from the Engineering budget; Public Works Director Parini stated there was one reclassi- fication issue in the Engineering Div. - for the engi- neering draftsperson to be reclassified to an engi- neering technician, with a 2 1/2% salary increase; Vice Mayor Yee stated he would not support any reclassification changes this year; the manpower was one of the differences in the two budget documents - one showing a one person reduction and the other no reduction; the new version was correct; etc. City Manager Wohlenberg stated he had asked for an alternate proposal from the Nave law firm for contractual services but this was also an organiza- tional change and perhaps the Council was not ready to decide or may wish to continue the current ar- rangement for a while. Interim City Attorney Nave related: the budget they prepared was identical to the one that existed for the 1993-94 fiscal year, with approximately a $10,000 difference in the proposed 1994-95 budget, which was the result of some reduction in supplies; he had given Council a handout which shows the difference in projected savings between in-house and private attorneys; in-house is $338,407, with no reduction in staff; the private is $269,006; the savings is $69,401, with perhaps a further reduction through a reduction of office space required; the private proposal is premised on 160 hours a month in basic A~ENDA A~TION TAKEN ,,, Discussion of Budget - Continued. 6/24/94 Page 7 384 services and there were sheets showing billings from April through this date's activity, which in- cludes work on East of 101 - which has been the most time consuming; East of 101 work will cease after the General Plan is completed; he and Interim City Attorney Mattas plan to average 125 hours a month; plan to bill 160 hours per month; his firm represented twelve cities in the bay area and do special assignments for any number in land use, redevelopment and litigation; in addition to he and Steve, the City would have the resources of eleven attorneys in his office, with various special- ties; some adjustment has to be made by staff and that is getting used to not having a City Attorney here for 40 hours a week; they have had success in their scheduling of time to answer requests for legal services by staff; one of them would be here three times a week; this has worked well in San Leandro, which is an industrial city, is larger than S.S.F. by 10,000 people and has the same industrial and reve- nue base; etc. Discussion followed: whether the proposal included the Assistant City Attorney and the current Clerical Secretary II position; it does not include the Assis- tant Attorney, does include the Legal Secretary II and deletes the half time Legal Secretary I; the monthly fee is $16,000 per month for 125 hours in round numbers; Vice Mayor Yee stated that 125 hours equated to $13,000 a month, multiplied by 12 equals $150,000, so where does the other $100,000 come from; the Legal Secretary II position plus 160 hours a month for contract City Attorney services, excluding litigation; 160 hours at $100 X 12 = $196,000 plus Legal Secretary II; current contract calls for 100 hours a month, with the services of the Assistant City Attorney; Interim City Attorney Nave felt they could do the Assistant's work in the addi- tional 60 hours a month; Vice Mayor Yee had diffi- culty reconciling the Attorney's numbers - if you don't have East of 101, the firm would spend 100 hours and they could still keep the Assistant City Attorney; Interim City Attorney Nave stated the only litigation they would do within the proposal was code enforcement, misdemeanor prosecutions and routine matters; insurance claims were handled by ABAG; Interim City Attorney Mattas stated the figure includes litigation that the city would be involved in~ the attorneys would be picking up the Assistant City Attorney's workload; Vice Mayor Yee had difficulty in reconciling the attorney's AGENDA ACTION TAKEN .__Discussion of the Budget - Continued. 6/24/94 Page 8 385 numbers, because they could keep the Assistant City Attorney and, when East of 101 was complet- ed, the budget would only be $252,000 - with the two attorneys 100 hours a month; that figure repre- sents the two attorneys 160 hours a month, plus the secretary; the hours over 100 are the hours to cover the work the Assistant Attorney performs; the litigation the Nave firm would do is from code enforcement, misdemeanors and extraordinary litiga- tion - other types of litigation would be farmed out, such as Oyster Point on eminent domain; they can't rent out the City Attorney's space, so it was not a savings, because it would still require a janitor; the attorneys could cut $15,000 from the budget in law books, Codes and publications, because they have them back in their office; Councilman Drago sup- ported having outside attorneys, due to the greater resources offered for litigation; no absences for vacations and sickness; in the last 10 years there had been 4 City Attorneys, plus their recruitment costs - you train them and they leave; Mayor Fernekes stated he leaned towards outside attorneys and ques- tioned if this contract also included service to the Redevelopment Agency; the Finance Director allo- cates department time to the Redevelopment Agency and the Enterprise Fund and transfers the money to the General Fund; etc. Assistant City Attorney Chiozza responded to the presentation: the in-house budget of $338,000 included the 1/2 time Legal Secretary I, which has not been used since the beginning of this year, yet the $44,000 was in the budget. Councilman Drago directed the Finance Director to confirm the figures - that the $44,000 is not includ- ed in the $338,000. Assistant City Attorney Chiozza continued: mater- ials and supplies of $54,000, yet the expenditure figure for May of 1994 shows $50,000 budgeted, yet encumbered or spent is $22,000, which repre- sents 11 months of FY 1993-94. So, the $54,000 is an inflated figure; books and supplies have been budgeted for $15,000 for FY 1993-94 and, 11 months into the year, they spent $9,000 - and much of that is updates to Codes. He stated that the City had to be looked at individu- ally. This firm is a municipal law boutique and does represent the City of San Leandro, which may AGENDA Discussion of the Budget - Continued. 6/24/94 Page 9 ACTION TAKEN be relative in size. However, he did not know the diversity and complexity, but would opine that it may be a rather unique situation for them in terms of the size, because Steve Meyers was the appointed City Attorney for a number of years in San Leandro and was able to convince the Council that it would be a good thing for him to join the firm of Mike Nave, a very fine firm. So, he felt there was a very distinct correlation between Meyers' association for many years as appointed City Attorney to join Mike Nave's firm and still retain the relationship in San Leandro. He related: the firm is at 121-130 hours now in terms of their service to the City at $125.00 an hour, which he felt was a great deal of down time, because any savings would be absorbed in litigation costs. The $269,006 is merely a retainer and does not consider cost of litigation with the City being sued. Interim City Attorney Nave stated the City was paying $205.00 an hour for outside attorneys for the Oyster Point lawsuit and they were going to do future cases for $150.00 an hour. The $269,000 was not a retainer - it was on an hourly basis for 160 hours per month. Assistant City Attorney Chiozza believed the Coun- cil is dedicated to doing what they believed to be in the best interests of the City. He stated that the City Attorney's Office was appointed as lead counsel for the Oyster Point Project in 1991 and the office has litigated nine private property acquisitions, as well as pursuing eight funding agreements, five of which were handled in-house. If you use the hourly rate he was paid by the City of $35.00 for 905 hours compared to $150.00 an hour, computed out there is an enormous difference. He stated he had handled the Fair Labor Standards case in Federal Court and worked up 140 hours on that case, as well as the Westborough case. Again there was a substantial savings to the City, because the award paid down the assessments. He stated there are an enormous amount of requests from City staff for services, which he turned around in a timely fashion, but these detracted from his ability to handle litigation in-house. He wanted to impress on Council that there is a ~ENDA ACTION TAKEN Discussion of the Budget - Continued. Parks & Recreation Budget: Library Budget: Finance Budget: ~ rersonnel Budget: 6/24/94 Page 10 387 great need for services and requests for legal ser- vices in the City and he knew the Council would make the decision objectively, in the best interests of the City and in all fairness. Councilman Drago suggested checking with each of the Department Heads to see their level of satisfac- tion, pro or con, with the Nave firm these past few months. He stated he wanted an honest, objective report given to the City Manager by each Depart- ment Head. Director of Parks, Recreation & Community Services Nagel related: the budget was status quo, with a slight increase in materials and services and no reductions; there was one reclassification of the Superintendent of Recreation & Community Servic- es; recreation meets its mandate of $2.5 million of expenditures and is covered 51% by revenue; $13,000 expenditure for an agreement with the School District to cover the costs of utilizing the pool during the summer months, which is under negotiation; fee waivers are an 80-20% split, which the Council wanted to review; etc. City Manager Wohlenberg stated that Parks & Rec- reation and the Library were severely cut last year and, as a result, were not being cut this year. City Librarian Dancy stated her budget was also status quo, other than a reclassification of the Tech- nical Services position, as recommended by the City reclassification study. She continued: turning one full time position into two half time positions to allow flexibility in their schedules; a four year ac- quisition of the Dymax Automation System; taking $44,000 from the Xerox replacement fund and putt- ing it into the General Fund, to offset the costs for next year; etc. Director of Finance Margolis related: eliminating the paramedic billing and contracting it out, other- wise it was a status quo budget; shifting of costs and closing down the computer acquisition as a project; making better uses of resources with the new com- puter with direct timecard entry; time saved is being put into revenue collection enhancements on busi- ness licenses; etc. Director of Personnel Gonzales related: no pro- posed changes in staff; reclassification study will ~ENDA .Discussion of the Budget - Continued. Non-Departmental Budget: City Manager Budget: City Council Budget: 6/24/94 Page 11 ACTION TAKEN 388 come back to Council; $6,000 for customer training, otherwise status quo. Councilman Drago stated he would not vote on any reclassification. Vice Mayor Yee stated that the problem is the bud- get shortfall, laying off people and a new shortfall of $250,000 when trying to balance the budget. He stated there would be no upgrades and no increases. He stated these reclassification and increases were being offered piecemeal, when there was a compac- tion problem, and people get mad, because a lower classification makes more than they do. Consensus of Council - To not accept any salary upgrades. Discussion followed: organizational dues; maintenance cost for implementation of 414H section; $60,000 for a study; $100,000 Animal Con- trol Contract with County; County Mediation Sup- port; Convention & Visitors Convention Bureau; Congestion Management; C/CAG dues; Criminal Justice; Airport Land Use; SAMCEDA; Summer Youth Program is a County program; community organizations, such as Sister City; Calif./Arizona/ Nevada Innovative Group is $3,5000 a year; sup- porting the County's Family Housing Trust; etc. Consensus of Council - will not support Ca- lif./Arizona/Nevada Innovation Group and County's Family Housing Trust. City Manager Wohlenberg stated it was status quo, other than not having the Assistant to the City Man- ager position. Discussion followed: Finance is charging more exact Council benefits, in that $17% did not reflect true costs; Councilman Drago sees no reference to his memo for a parttime intern position for City Council to relieve staff of follow-ups, to coordinate their calendar for meetings, do research and minor studies - for maybe 20 hours a week; he will look into it and report back in a week; Mayor Fernekes agreed; Vice Mayor Yee felt the details should be looked into first and use the clerical study, because it is going to take away certain duties from the City Manager's Secretary; the Finance Director spent many hours as an intern during college and, at that ~fiENDA Discussion of the Budget - Continued. Councilman Penna Arrived at the Meeting: City Clerk Budget: 6/24/94 Page 12 ACTION TAKEN 389 time, it was done for school credit, however, that is no longer the case; etc. Councilman Penna arrived at the meeting at 11:37 p.m. City Clerk Battaya related: her change was in staff positions, because for years she could not make staff understand that the main position was a Deputy City Clerk, equivalent to a Secretary II; recently she had prepared all of the documents, brought them to the Assistant City Manager and then the budget was changed by Pat Martel to properly reflect the posi- tion as a Secretary II, fulltime and a Senior Typist Clerk, 1/4 time - which had been a 1/2 time position last year; the advertising had gone up because of the reassessment hearings for Common Green Districts; the difference in salary for the Secretary II was $200 a month. Assistant City Manager Martel related: this was an issue that had been raised many times in the past; she had told the City Clerk that, if she could pro- duce some documentation to verify the $200 differ- ence, she would change it; a resolution was pro- duced that established the $200 pay raise for Deputy City Clerk, which was at the same level as Secretary Il; she had then changed the budget and related it to the City Manager. City Clerk Battaya stated that, by Government Code, she alone could appoint a Deputy City Clerk and only in her absence can the Mayor appoint one of the Council as Deputy City Clerk to function in her absence. She related, years ago there was a Personnel Director who created job specs for a Deputy City Clerk, then there was a problem. Councilman Drago would remember. There was a lawsuit, where the Council finally agreed and ac- cepted the fact that she alone can appoint a Deputy. So, this is where this arrangement had been estab- lished - to pay the Deputy City Clerk as a Secretary II. Councilman Drago remembered that it went back to when he first got on Council. There was a problem going on and he volunteered, with Councilman Addiego, to go in and look at that Department, which they did. He stated that the Council, at that time, had agreed to give autonomy to the City Clerk's Office, in the sense that Council would AGENDA .,Discussion of the Budget - Continued. 6/24/94 Page 13 ACTION TAKEN decide the salary and the number of people she was given - besides herself, a Secretary and half a Clerk. What it said was she could decide what the salary was and there was a cap on her budget for those positions, recognizing that now she was going to contract out the work. City Clerk Battaya stated she had personal contracts with each woman in her office. She stated that in 1985 there were problems with the Deputy City Clerk and she had removed the title and the addi- tional $200 a month. The City's outside attorneys told the Council that the City Clerk could not do that and I spent $2,700 on a lawsuit and proved that I could. Councilman Drago had problems using titles, be- cause, after the clerical survey is done, those posi- tions may not exist. City Clerk Battaya stated that in 1985 a resolution had been passed taking both positions out of her office and she was allowed to use the salary and benefits of those positions to pay for the contract labor. She stated that she needed to tie the two titles to civil service, because that is the way the budget and payroll are set up. Vice Mayor Yee related: the Council authorized a certain number for the City Clerk's Department and she can hire and fire those people in her Depart- ment; theoretically she can give them twice as much as a Secretary I, as long as she can make her De- partment work. City Clerk Battaya stated, if she arbitrarily presented a budget that did not tie to civil service positions, she would have the same problems with staff. Councilman Yee stated the Council was giving the Clerk a certain amount of money that she could spend whatever way she liked, as long as she stayed within the budget. Councilman Drago stated this would be the equivalency for now. Vice Mayor Yee stated he would not be around for a meeting next week but, if there was a meeting and conferences were discussed, he was uncomfortable ~ENDA ACTION TAKEN Discussion of Budget - Continued. ADJOURNMENT: with the Indiana Conference. City Librarian Dancy stated the Library received Federal grant funds to promote the package of tutoring materials for Project Read. She stated part of the funding was for the conference in Indiana for Project Read and could only be used for that. Vice Mayor Yee stated he did not have a problem with that - only if it came out of the General Fund. Councilman Drago stated the General Fund was funding that program and did not see why they could not use the money for other things. City Librarian Dancy stated when they make appli- cations for Federal grants they must indicate how the funds will be spent and Leslie Sheldon, the Program Coordinator, is the person who will attend the conference. Vice Mayor Yee stated the Council had gone through most of the departments and wanted a sum- mary of each department to refresh memories before the next budget session, to see if there is a consen- sus on items - such as the Fire Department, on the reorganization and the quint. M/S Drago/Penna - To adjourn the meeting to Wednesday, 7/6/94, 7:00 p.m., Municipal Services Building, Community Room, 33 Arroyo Drive. Carried by unanimous voice vote. Time of adjournment was 11:55 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, City of South San Francisco APPROVED. Citvtof South San Francisco entries of this Council meeting show the action taken by the City Council to dispose of an item. Oral communica- ~ns, arguments and comments are recorded on tape. The tape and documents related to the items are on file in the ~fice of the City Clerk and are available for inspection, review and copying. 6/24/94 Page 14